Russian Maria Sharapova waves to the crowd after her victory in her match against Irina-Camelia Begu on day five of the 2015 Wimbledon championships, London on July 3, 2015. File photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI |
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Former World No. 1 Maria Sharapova made a triumphant comeback following a 15-month doping ban with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Italian Roberta Vinci in the first round of the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany.
Sharapova, who received a controversial wild card for the tournament, was playing in her first match since falling to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Australian Open. The five-time Grand Slam champion tested positive for the banned substance meldonium, but saw her initial two-year ban reduced to 15 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Sharapova initially received a lukewarm response from the crowd before polite applause as well as whistling were heard.
"It was the best feeling in the world," Sharapova said. "I have been waiting for this a long time."
Sharapova stumbled out of the blocks by dropping the first two games before breaking Vinci's serve. The 30-year-old Russian converted her second set point with a forehand winner to claim the opener.
Sharapova seized control of the match in the second set before closing out the win on Vinci's serve.
Sharapova advances to face fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova, who upset the seventh-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska on Tuesday.
Fourth-seeded Romanian Simona Halep advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Czech Barbora Strycova.
Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic posted a 6-4, 6-2 win over Croatia's Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-4, 6-2 to set up a second-round match against defending champion Angelique Kerber.
Sixth-seeded Johanna Konta of England defeated Japan's Naomi Osaka 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-1.
American Coco Vandeweghe posted a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3) over Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko, Russian Elena Vesnina recorded a 7-6 (2), 6-2 triumph over fellow countrywoman Darya Kasatkina and Spaniard Carla Suarez-Navarro collected a 6-2, 6-4 win over German Tamara Korpatsch.
